Matthew 16:21

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. ²²And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you." ²³But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." ²⁴Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. ²⁶For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? ²⁷For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. ²⁸Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

(Mat 16:21 ESV)

It is a little ironic that the only person who ever completely embraced what it means to be human was God. No human being has ever achieved full humanity. We have all fallen short of what it means to be a human being. Now that sounds a little ridiculous, I'm sure, but what does it mean to be fully human?

Adam was created in the image of God. He was perfect in all ways. To be human means to live in complete and full communion with God. It means to be the prince of all creation, the jewel in God's crown. It also means to understand that we are entirely dependent on God. It means to be in total subjection to God's authority. It means to accept whatever God gives us, including suffering and pain, as a most good and precious gift. It means to be under his authority, his rule, his power because he made us, we belong to him, we were the sheep of his pasture, the love of his heart.

But man rejected his status of human being when he decided to take control of things himself. You remember, it was Satan who put that idea into Adam and Eve's minds when he tempted them saying, "You shall become like God, knowing good and evil." Ever since, we have eschewed our humanity and wanted to exchange it for divinity. We want to be like God. We want to be in control, to rule ourselves and others, taking charge of our own destiny. We even want to tell God how he should run things. We shun suffering and death, and insist that God do things our way in his dealing with us.

Peter displayed that same depravity which all of us have when he exclaimed to Jesus, "God forbid that you should die." Sounds like a nice sentiment. Sounds like he was just looking out for Jesus' best interests; wanting the best for him. Or, like our world today, perhaps he thought death was too bloody, too much violence, and God would surely not condone such bloodshed and violence.

Fact is, Peter had just proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. He shared the idea of his times that the Messiah would straighten out all that was wrong with the world by power and force. He thought it was time for Jesus to go up to Jerusalem and take his seat on the throne. Peter wanted a Jesus who would enforce by a show of might love, kindness, peace, and goodness. He wanted Jesus to heal and do miracles and establish peace on earth through a worldly government. He wanted a Jesus who would give success and prosperity and would wipe away suffering and pain. He was just like many in our world today.

In short, Peter was really trying to tell God how to run things. He didn't want suffering and pain. He wanted a God who would straighten out the world by force and might and place the disciples as his ministers to reign over all mankind. After all, if evil is evil, should not the God of creation simply come forth in might and overcome it and remove it? Shouldn't the disciples be allowed to participate in this word by separating the wheat from the chaff and uprooting the sons of evil? To set up a Christian state where there would be only justice and righteousness and peace and prosperity?

This is the way most of us approach God. We tell God how to run things. We want him to take control of the world and make everyone conform to his will. God should force all kings and presidents and governments to create the perfect society and make peace for all nations. God should wipe out any form of suffering or pain. There should be no sickness or pain or death. If God were really a God of love and if he really had all power, he would take away our suffering and create a fair and just society for all people. We want him to heal our sicknesses and do miracles. To establish a reign of power so that there would be only love, peace, kindness, justice, success and prosperity. In other words, we insist that God's way of dealing with the world and its evil should conform to our way. Just put me in charge, and I'll set things right.

As such we reject our humanity by wanting to be in control. Instead of embracing the image of God, we want to be god. We want to take credit for what we have accomplished or done. We think that we have been successful and are self-reliant. "Look at what I have accomplished," we boast, "look at my nice job and large income. Look at my nice home and beautiful car. See what I have done!"

Our thoughts are the same as Peter's when we want to have power over others. We want the most important positions on the church council. We want to be the most important people in the congregation. We want to have the power and authority to tell others what to do and how to do it. We want to run things. We think that we are the most important to the operation of the church. We want to be someone important and special. That is our sinful fallen way. That is the way of Adam and Eve who wanted to take over and be god in place of God. That is the way of Satan.

Jesus summed it up in one word: "Get behind me Satan." It is exactly what Satan tempted Adam and Eve with in the Garden of Eden, and they fell for it. Wanting to be more than what we are is the root sin of humanity. We want to be gods; to be in control; to have power over others. Satan still tempts us to seek fame, wealth, prestige, and worldly greatness. He tempts us to expect that illness will be cured and that we will be prosperous and successful and live longer.

In theology we call this the theology of glory. It is seeking pure glory without a cross. It is to honor Christ the wrong way. It dishonors Christ. It is a theology predicated on man's own strength, goodness, power, and glory. We are determined to exalt ourselves to the throne of God and tell God what he must do. We want it our way and God better see to it that it happens.

Get behind me Satan, for you are not setting you mind on the things of God but on the things of man. All such thinking is Satanic!

But Jesus was fully submissive to his Father's will. Jesus set aside his own power and chose the way of service and obedience and suffering for our sake. Jesus never would have attempted to tell God how to run things. Jesus never once insisted on having authority over anyone else. He never tried to get his way by a show of force, or by being in charge. He never criticized anyone or pointed fingers of blame, which is just a subtle way of exerting our power over people. He even told his disciples that trying to have authority over others is the way of the fallen, sinful world, but that the way of God was the way of submission, humility, and servitude.

Jesus chose the road of humility and servitude. Jesus chose the way of the cross. Jesus chose to live in complete submission to his Father and walk the road of suffering and death. Jesus took up his cross for our salvation. It was by the humility and weakness of a cross that Jesus established his kingdom. When he told the disciples, "Some of you will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom," he was referring to his death on the cross. That was the coming of the kingdom. Not power and glory, but suffering and death.

Jesus fully embraced his humanity. He was more fully human that we are, because He accepted the role of being human even the suffering and pain we go through. He took not only our human nature, but took our sin along with it. He became sin for us, and took that sin to the cross to crucify it in order to exchange his righteousness with us. He became sin in order that we might receive his righteousness.

Jesus was committed to bearing the cross given to him by his Father in order to save you from God's wrath against sin. It is in the cross of Jesus that you find life. It was on the cross that Jesus expiated your sins and redeemed you from sin and death. It was by his death that he appeased the anger and wrath of God against you. It was by his cross that Jesus saved you from the fierce wrath of God for your sin and freed you from eternal punishment and death.

Therefore, St. Paul says, "Be it far from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." Therefore, we preach "Christ and him crucified." It is the power of the cross that saves us.

The cross: Folly to those who are perishing because it appears weak and foolish. But it is the power of God to save us. The cross, it is an offense to those who relish power and success because it is a sign of death. It is an embarrassment to those who want to look wise and successful because it is a sign of weakness and failure. But to the believer, the cross means eternal life. It is by the cross of Jesus that we are reconciled to God. Because Jesus did not come to rule in power, but came in the form of a servant and was obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Jesus came "to serve us, not to be served, and to give his life as a ransom for our sins." By his blood he made peace for us with God (Rom 5). By his death he cancelled the debt that stood between us and God (Col 2). It was because Jesus came in humility instead of power and might, that we are saved from our sin and God's wrath against sin. Christ's greatest honor and glory is his cross.

Then Jesus made it personal when he said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." What does it mean to deny ourselves? It means to eschew the pleasures of sin, to resist temptations, to set aside our desire for control over others, to relinquish our power and authority over people. Jesus calls every Christian to look at the darkness within, at the desire for power over others, and to deny that desire whenever it shows itself. Jesus wants us to deny ourselves and to rely and trust in God completely, letting him do things his way and not insisting he does things our way. If his will is suffering and a cross for us, then it means embracing that suffering and bearing that cross. It means that instead of telling others what to do, we become humble servants of others. It means forgiving the sins of others against us, and shunning the desire to get even or set the record straight.

Take up your cross and follow me. Taking up the cross begins when we acknowledge that discipleship will entail hardship precisely because this is God's way of reigning graciously in a rebellious world, "not paying back evil with evil, but evil with good." Following Jesus means to go where he goes. His path led to suffering and death on a cross. That is the path that we are to follow. If we truly follow Jesus he will lead us to the cross. Our cross is the suffering and pain and death that we suffer because we follow Jesus. It is the ridicule and loss of popularity from naming the name of Jesus. It is the sacrifice of time and money to spread the gospel and help our neighbor. It is the fight within ourselves to avoid and resist temptations and the pleasures of sin.

The devil tells us to avoid crosses. "Spare yourself the cross," he says. But Jesus made the cross the pattern for the whole life of his followers. He gives us crosses to bear. By taking up crosses, we manifest love for Christ. And to strengthen us, Jesus assures us of the coming of his kingdom into which we will be gathered. He gives us the Holy Spirit to help us live a life of faith and bear our crosses, and he sets before us the wondrous hope of his coming in glory to richly compensate us for all we have suffered or lost for his sake.

Just as the cross of Jesus was not the end, so our crosses, our suffering and our death are not the final chapter of our lives. There is resurrection on the other side. There is life everlasting. There is glory, and this same Jesus who we follow to the cross, will also lead us to resurrection and exaltation. Amen.